1. Field of the Invention
Apparatuses and methods consistent with the present invention relate to receiving a digital broadcasting and upgrading software of a digital broadcasting receiving apparatus, and more particularly, to upgrading the software of the digital broadcasting receiving apparatus, which allows a headend to grasp the status of software upgrade for each digital broadcasting receiving apparatus through an external memory device.
2. Description of the Related Art
With advances of digital technology, a digital broadcasting receiving apparatus, such as a digital television (TV), could now have interactivity, not just having a function to display broadcasting signals received from broadcasting stations, but also having a function to send user's intention to the broadcasting stations.
In this way, what enables a TV to have the interactivity is OpenCable Applications Platform (OCAP) and Advanced Common Applications Platform (ACAP) specifications, which are both data broadcasting standards.
A user can send TV-related information and his intention to a broadcasting station using a variety of Java Application Program Interfaces (APIs) which are defined in the OCAP or ACAP specification.
Furthermore, a broadcasting station can more positively control a TV compared to a case where a conventional unidirectional TV is used. The “positive control of TV” means that most of conventional TV functions can be implemented under the control of the broadcasting station. For example, the broadcasting station can control functions, such as TV channel selection, and video format change.
As stated above, though a broadcasting station is allowed to positively control a TV by the OCAP or ACAP specification, when a user upgrades software installed in a conventional TV at his or her own discretion, there is no method for allowing the broadcasting station to recognize this.
A method for upgrading software installed in a conventional TV will be briefly described. When a memory device is connected to a TV by a user, the TV will identify a version of software to be upgraded and a version of previously installed software. If the two versions are identical, then the upgrade will not proceed, but if the two versions are different from each other, then the upgrade will proceed.
In the OCAP or ACAP specification, a variety of APIs are defined which have to be provided for a TV. However, APIs are not defined for exchanging information between a broadcasting station and a TV concerning software upgrade whether it is performed, how it is progressed, or the like, and therefore the broadcasting station cannot recognize whether the software installed in the TV is upgraded by the user.
As stated above, since information exchange between a broadcasting station and a TV concerning software upgrade is not implemented, the software upgrade in the TV is implemented without considering the status of the broadcasting station. Accordingly, a problem occurs in TV software version management by the broadcasting station.